Does anyone else cross print?

Hello- I just got a black and white darkroom and was experimenting with printing color negs on black and white paper and the results were surprisingly pleasing. I was wondering if there is anyone else out there doing this? What happens when black and white negs are printed on color paper? -Patrick

I did not know it was possible with the color negs having the orange mask,Kodak use to make a BW paper that would work with color negs Panlure I think it was called.What type of BW paper are you using.

I've had somewhat acceptable results using MG paper, usually with a 4- or 5-grade filter. Mike is right about the old Panalure, which is apparently no longer available. That paper was very fast, but ordinarily gave decent results. I think it was, late in its production at least, available in a couple of different grades. My recollection is that Panalure didn't age particularly well, so any package(s) of it you might encounter now are probably suspect.

I am using some paper I bought a local store that had been cut from rolls and they say it is Ilford. There is a water mark on the back that says black and white paper. It is a RC and VC paper. I did not print these with any filters. I will scan an example.

Ha,Haaa back when they only made papers that had only 1 grade per box so you had to buy 3 or 4 different boxes of paper for the different contrasts. they still make them but there not as cost effective as a box of VC paper.

Graded paper has fixed contrast. It comes in specific grades (e.g. 1, 2, 3 or 4) with grade 2 being "normal". You choose which grade to use according to the contrast inherent in the negative.

Graded paper is sensitive to (mainly) one colour of light. Variable contrast paper is sensitive (mainly) to two different colours of light (blue and green) and one adjusts the contrast of the print by varying the relative amounts of each colour.

It is the colour sensitivity of the Black and White paper that makes printing colour negatives somewhat hit or miss. The orange mask decreases contrast generally, and different negatives may be predominately of colours that the Black and White paper has little or no sensitivity to.

For example, a scene that is predominantly cyan will yield a negative that is predominantly red - and the paper is almost blind to red.

On the other hand, a scene that is predominantly yellow will yield a negative that is predominantly blue - and the paper's high contrast emulsion is blue sensitive.